The complete local SEO guide

What local SEO is

Local SEO helps a business appear when people search for something nearby, such as “plumber near me” or “dentist in Leeds”. The results often include a map with three businesses, known as the map pack. Winning a place there brings calls, visits and direction requests.

How Google ranks local results

Google describes three main factors.

• Relevance: how well your profile matches what the person searched for.
• Distance: how close your business is to the searcher or the location they named.
• Prominence: how well known and trusted your business is, based on reviews, links and mentions across the web.

You can’t change distance, but you can improve relevance and prominence.

Step 1: Set up your Google Business Profile

Claim and verify your profile, choose the most accurate primary category, and fill in every section. Our Google Business Profile guide walks through each field.

Step 2: Build a review system

Ask every happy customer for a review, ideally soon after the job. Send a direct link by text or email, and reply to every review, positive or negative. Never buy reviews or offer rewards for them, because that breaks Google’s rules.

Step 3: Keep your details consistent

Your business name, address and phone number should match everywhere, including your website, directories and social profiles. Fix duplicates and outdated listings first, then claim listings on the main directories and any that are specific to your industry.

Step 4: Create useful location and service pages

Give each area you serve its own page with real local content: the services you offer there, projects, reviews and a map. Avoid copying one page and swapping the city name.

Step 5: Earn local links and mentions

Sponsorships, local news, suppliers, associations and community groups can all link to your site. These links signal that your business is established in the area.

Step 6: Track results

Watch calls, direction requests, website clicks and where you appear on the map. A geo-grid scan shows your visibility across the area, so you can see progress month by month.

Common mistakes

• Using a different business name on your profile than in real life.
• Using a virtual office or PO box as your address.
• Ignoring reviews and photos.
• Creating thin location pages with identical text.

Next steps

Local SEO takes steady effort, but the first improvements can show quickly. If you’d like help, see our local SEO service or request a free SEO audit.